Data entry pads, otherwise referred to herein as “keypads” or “keyboards,” are used in conjunction with numerous electronic devices. Common examples of data entry pads are: (i) physical keypads that can be externally or internally connected to one or more devices, (ii) virtual keypads on, e.g., touch screen devices, and (iii) virtual laser keypads—all of which act as input devices in one way or another. Not all data entry pads, however, convey the same information in the same way. For example, the majority of computer keyboards have both a numeric keypad and an alphabetic (e.g., “QWERTY”) keypad capable of conveying information in a variety of ways. As such, many variations of keypads and keyboards have been developed over the years—each one modified in order to increase its functionality and/or efficiency for a particular use, setting, and/or device with which it is to be used. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,627,224 and 7,439,959, and U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2008/0205960, 2010/0333011, and 2008/0284744, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
One particular use of data entry pads is for entering information related to land and/or mineral interests (e.g., oil, natural gas, and precious metals) into electronic devices using, for example, computer executable code interfaces. Until the presently disclosed and/or claimed inventive concept(s), users (e.g., landmen, title attorneys, county clerks, and county assessors) had to enter such land and/or mineral-related information into electronic devices by pressing multiple keys on a keypad in order to produce terms or abbreviations repeatedly used in the field. For example, each letter of terms like “section,” “township,” “range,” “mineral,” “degrees,” “rods,” and “chains” had to be entered by pressing numerous keys on a keypad in a particular order and in succession to form the desired word. Additionally, each letter, number, and punctuation mark likewise had to be entered by pressing numerous keys on a keypad in a particular order and in succession to form desired abbreviations like “N/2,” “S/2,” “E/2,” and “W/2,” all of which can be used over and over again when entering information related to land and/or mineral interests.
As such, there is a need for a data entry pad comprising a plurality of geographic indication keys with each key corresponding to a predefined sequence of characters corresponding to terms and/or abbreviations indicative of geographic sizes and/or geographic locations related to land and/or mineral interests in order to decrease the number of keystrokes needed to enter a single term and/or abbreviation related to land and/or mineral interests into an electronic device using, e.g., computer executable code interfaces.